Beethoven lived in a time of revolution. The American Revolution began just after he was born and the French Revolution ignited when he was a coming-of-age 18-year-old. The ideals of these revolutions – liberty, self-determination, the breaking down of the class structure based on birth – all shaped Beethoven’s mindset and his music.

Encuentra más historias que celebran el 250 aniversario de Beethoven en español.

How well do you know Beethoven? Take this quiz to find out!

Colors are something we see and music is something we hear but there are some whose senses combine in unrelated ways. They may taste colors or hear sounds in response to certain smells. It’s called synesthesia.

Listen to 250 minutes of your favorite Beethoven pieces on air and on Spotify.

A couple in Nova Scotia are passing their love of Beethoven to their young son by way of some old technology.

Scottish multi-percussionist Evelyn Glennie has been profoundly deaf since she was 12 years old. We asked her how someone who is deaf can "hear" with their whole body.

Amazing detective work has been done over the last 30 to 40 years by musicologists around the world to solve the mystery.

The stage was set for Beethoven, but being on the cusp of change had its challenges.

Beethoven’s teacher, Franz Josef Haydn, was eclipsed by the genius of his young student. Later, a young Johannes Brahms spent decades writing his first symphony because Beethoven’s legacy cast a really big shadow.

Former NPR host Robert Siegel is a big Beethoven fan. He especially loves the allegretto from Beethoven’s 7th symphony. Listen and read one of his all-time favorite NPR stories.

Beethoven's intention was to shock his audience.

Beethoven wrote one opera, Fidelio. A 2003 production so captivated Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, she wrote a letter to the director.

Learn which great classical piece Joel quotes in his tune “This Night.”